Spring In Texas

Yellow Pom Pom

Lupinus Texensis

Photos By: Chandra Brown

Periwinkle pettles

propogate profusely

promulgating proof of God's handiwork

Circlets of sunbursts dotted along a branch

radiating bright and warm

upon the meadows patch.

Blossoms bloom, colors announce

life is regenerating.

Spring; 

picture perfect illustration of God's

promise to mankind on Earth.

By: Chandra Brown

A Limerick

Photo By: MeHere

There once was a slave from Britain
who thought monk hood would be better fittin'.
So he escaped on a boat
away from the land with a huge moat
but didn't stay long cuz he was quickened.

He sailed back to the land that enslaved him
and showed God's truth to the dim.
With three leaf clovers
he won people over
and showed them Jesus' way to cleanse sin.

From 432 to 462 his ministry he did not neglect
so that much of what he said took effect.
For all this good
he was granted sainthood;
This was the history of a slave promoted to prefect.

By: Chandra Brown

Click to read the history of Saint Patrick

Pagan Nation

Our family just got back from a wonderful vacation at Disney World and now my daughter is on Spring Break from school. We've been filling recent time with a little fun I would say.

These back to back fun filled excursions have broken us from the normal routine. We are somewhat sheltered from what goes on in the world, some of this is intentional. We just don't like the rat race and the keeping up with the Joneses and the constant go, go, go. I always joke I'm going to be the grandma that doesn't know how to work the newest techno gadget and I can't wait to call whatever it is "that darn new fangled thing." 

By: HikingArtist.com

This post is titled Pagan Nation. Pagan means country dweller or heathen, and the word usually conjures up scenes of ancient civilizations harvesting crops and their seasonal festivals and feasts celebrated by sacrifice to their gods. America has its own form of Pagan worship through the guise of taking care of the Earth and depicting humans as thoughtless inhabitors who abuse it but can save it if they change and make the effort to make a difference. The worship doesn't have to be in the form of witches, spells and Hollywood antics. It is an I'm alright your alright everything goes mentality with a focus on nature. (Just look up paganism on google and there's a wealth of information) it doesn't take much anymore to show the Pagan slant our country takes.

Disney World is family oriented and has a rhythm of its own. You do feel time has its own beat and you do not focus too much on what is outside the property line when you are there. My daughter, husband and I were walking along the lake at Epcot leisurely licking the caramel, ginger ice cream we found from the Japanese pagoda nestled among the various restaurants depicting countries of the world. It was dark and that nights fireworks show was about to begin. We parked our tushes under a large fire lit lantern and began to watch the show unfold. It was an amazing show with fireworks reflecting on the lake. Something told me to pay attention to what the announcer said as the details of the show unraveled. I was just happy seeing all the amazing pyrotechnics and wasn't really interested in the narration but I was glad I payed attention. The announcer mentioned how communities around the world gathered around the bonfire and a large barge in the middle of the lake burst into flames and all the lanterns along the lake shot out their fire high into the sky. The announcer proceeded to talk about the earth as a big ball glided into the center of the lake and opened up to reveal more fire and fireworks. The announcer mentioned healing the earth and a few other things that give everyone a feel good message about our duty to come together through community to take care of the earth. Frankly, it was a big production that sickened me. My dad was standing next to me and I leaned over to his ear and told him, "I'm sick of all this Earth worship I see everywhere."  The ice cream just wasn't enjoyable after that.

I just got home from taking my daughter to see The Lorax. We laughed and giggled and had a great time, but I found myself warning her of the messages of indoctrination throughout the film. The overall message was a decent one but the anti-capitalist, humans destroy everything message was loud and sung clearly throughout the show. I remember warning her about the same 'humans stink' message in Wall-E, another annoying film depicting the human race as fat, lazy, stupid idiots who destroy earth.

And to think our kids are bombarded day in and day out with this message. Ive seen this collective minded 'save the world' message in various forms and degrees in schools, businesses, ads, games etc. I know this is why people so blindly shrug it off because it is blanketed within every aspect of our life. Some may not care and go on with girders on, some still don't care and can't even see the spiritual deception of it all and some do know and teach their children as I do.

I am smiling right now as God brings to memory what he showed me a few weeks back in Psalms 104. (I blogged about it) Do you see the wonderful teaching hand of God as I do? He made something I knew (the fact He is in control and is the sustainer of the Earth and all that is in it) so real through the teaching experiences at Epcot and The Lorax. If I wasn't paying attention at those moments, I wouldn't be praising God right now for all He is and does. This gave me an opportunity to worship HIM and to praise HIM for the glorious handiwork I live in and enjoy. If only the world would get it right and worship the one who Created the Earth instead of the Earth itself, what a difference that would make!

What are some every day examples you've noticed of Pagan worship?

 

The Worn Soapbox

My soapbox is firmly planted, I put my right foot on the worn surface. I stop, my knee bent and see a ragged hole or two on the surface, I look at it with pride before my left foot follows and I plant my body firmly in the middle. I scan the view before me as my head turns from right to left. My eyes encompass a foggy, barren field but my mouth opens anyway.

Photo by: Gracey

For those sparse few that read my blog, you understand I use it for many purposes. I often wield words against unjust causes and harshly scrutinize the world yet on the other hand will gush sentiment over a bee on a flower. I write what life teaches me. This post is dedicated to the few who see truth, don't try to change it to fit their world, embrace it, let it change them and go on to valiantly write and/or stand on the soapbox and open their mouths to speak what they have learned.

The Possession


My soapbox is the possession I carry on my narrow walk. Sometimes I sit on it, other times I kick it around. I pick it up every now and then and sling it over my shoulder, I let it dangle down my back and move along the narrow path waiting for the time when the cumbersome square will once again lift off my shoulder to be set on a level plane and bare the weight I carry.

The Path

The longer I try to walk the narrow road the more sensitive the rocky path seems to feel beneath my feet. The prick of the jagged rock is not a feeling you shrink from but one you welcome because you know it is there to teach you to be aware; to pay strict attention to lest you should misstep and fall.

Photo by: imageafter

The Perception

Subtle whispers echo across the wide road only to hit your ear drums as loud roars. So you shout back in order to be heard through all the background noise packaged in so many forms categorizing them would be a useless task. You try to be succinct in your call so the words will travel across the chasm with full force and hopes that those who are faced in the right direction will be able to transmit the faint noise.

Photo by: Aunt Owwee

The Reason

JESUS
He is the light to my path, He keeps my way straight. He teaches, reveals and guides me along the way and balances me in the process. (Psalms 23:3, 25:4 Proverbs 3:6, 4:11)

To walk on the narrow path is to take up your cross and follow Him. Sometimes He requires you push forward with nothing but the clothes on your back, sometimes to give your last possession to another you meet along the way, other times you will rest when you want to run forward. Sometimes He will hide and you will have to seek. Along the way you learn to know His voice but it gets even better with His promise to one day see His face.

I plan to keep following him along the path with my worn soapbox in tow.

Disney World Family Photos

Disney World's Natural Beauty



Utopia Land Delivers with Side Effects- Day Four, Five and Six

Day four begins early with showers and a quick breakfast. The die hards are up and at em' with no sign of the grumpies but the younger ones are showing a shadow of tired in their eyes. This codger was still in bed not ready to face another day, Nathan rose to the occasion, blistered feet and all and decided to go with the die hard crew on another adventure. This time to Universal Studios where the rides are mega fun and there are a lot of them.

Universal Studios waiting in line for tickets

The die hard crew spent the day riding the crazy rides. The Incredible Hulk roller coaster,  Two Harry Potter rides, and one of Alex's favorites was Twister. We watch Storm Chaser and watch weather documentaries for fun, so this was right up her alley.

Not doing to bad for only 4 hours sleep...

Alex acting out Twister

While the fun commenced with the die hard crew, I sluggishly put my feet up for a full day of R&R. A guilty pleasure during any vacation that I happily indulged in. (You'll see later I was glad I rested) I was starting to feel that run down feeling and I thought I better listen to my body and not push it. I just putzed around the house, did laundry, cleaned up a little, did a little business and called it all good.

Day five I was refreshed and ready to tag-a-long to Downtown Disney where the hunting for plush, stuffed goods was the goal of the day. The kids were raring to go and ready to blow their money. Alex had money from Christmas Nana and Papa gave her and some she earned from her dog sitting jobs.

She found everything on her list except Todd, from the Fox and the Hound. Brantley treated the girls to Mickey bracelets, and was very generous and bought Alex a wolf she was eyeing at the Harley Davidson shop.

We ate at Wolfgang Pucks and were told we had a very nice family by the wait staff who said many people come in and are rude.  Thank goodness they weren't standing in line behind us at the Areosmith ride a couple of days ago...Hahaha, (you know who you are)

The fun didn't end with shopping. The die hard crew's fun meter was a little low so they went back to Sea World after dropping off the codger crew with all the shopping spoils.

Alex rode the Manta roller coaster twice even though she was beginning to show the signs of exhaustion after lunch.  As the die hard crew strolled in for dinner, this mom knew her daughter had been spent. She was still smiling but her face was flushed and I could tell she didn't want to tell me she wasn't feeling well. She downed a whole bottle of water and admitted to a headache. I thought exhaustion, heat stroke, lack of sleep, dehydration on top of poor eating habits; what a concoction for disaster. An unexpected side effect of too much fun. Pinocchio's Pleasure Island and the dancing, puke green faces of the over stimulated donkey boys pranced about in front of me as I realized my baby was not only worn out but full on sick.  Gavin ended up sick as well.

Day six was travel day back home, we dropped Nathan off early because he had a different flight then Me and Alex. Since we had some time to kill we toured Ripley's Believe It Or Not to see the wacky weird anomalies of humankind. We ate at Uno's while Alex and Gavin slept on the bench with fevers raging away. The parents discussed making sure we didn't blow it at the airport and not get on the plane because of sick children.

We all arrive at the airport ahead of schedules and both our flights (Colorado/Texas) are delayed. Alex mustered enough energy to walk down the concourse as I fumbled with two carry on suitcases and two bags. Having the flu and having to get up and walk can be excruciating but she did it with no complaints. We had to connect flights in Dallas and hustle to make the flight in time, then sit on the tarmac for 20 minutes waiting for clearance to take off. We finally got into Austin at 9:10 at night and there was one last haul to the car before the stretch to home to finally get in bed and re-cooperate.

I was glad I took that one day for R&R and listened to my body telling me to slow down. If I had pushed myself and got sick too the getting home would have been a ride from hell.

This trip was a dream come true with all the makings for great memories. Disney delivered on their promise of family fun; next time we'll regulate our dosage so the side effects stay within the realm of smiles with out fevers.

Thanks to all my wonderful family for planning, arranging, giving so this trip could happen! We can't thank you all enough!